"How to Lie with Statistics"

Latest Curezone Book Club selection:

"How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrell Huff

This book was recommended to me in grad school decades ago. It's likely out of print now but you should be able to find it at used book sources on the internet. It's delightfully funny, breezy and an easy read, to include humorous illustrations. It points out many common errors in data representation and statistical analysis, be they intentional or unintentional.

Some of the Chapters:

- The Sample with the Built-in Bias
- The Little Figures That Are Not There
- Much Ado about Practically Nothing
- The Gee-Whiz Graph
- Post Hoc Rides Again

Looking over the chapter titles, they fit so well many of the statistical distortions seen regularly here on the CZ vaccination "debate" forum! Beyond the dubious sources of references, "post hoc ergo propter hoc" logical fallacies abound and confirmation bias is rampant. With narrowly defined and rigid paradigms, unsupported correlations are made constantly and only data supporting certain beliefs are tolerated.

When deeper critical analysis points to blatant cases of "lying with statistics", one questions... Is it just an unfortunate incompetence with statistics? Or an overt attempt at dissemination of misinformation to support a skewed agenda?

Perhaps I shouldn't even recommended a book like this as CZ posters might get better at crafting their deceptions. I think Mike Adams must have read this book.